She Has Met Her Demons Attending an Ayahuasca Ceremony in Peru, Developed Psychosis and Needed Electroshock Treatment

The magical ayahuasca treatment. It can help the body and soul to get rid of negative energy and it opens up the possibility of self-discovery. This therapy is becoming more and more popular in the Western world. People learn about the ritual online and by reading a bunch of different documents. But a lot of information still doesn't come all the way through. 

Amazon shamans have known this psychotropic drink made from tropical liana for thousands of years. Amongst them, it is considered holy. Through its use, they're able to identify disease and even cure it, potentially. 

People experiencing the healing ritual are introduced to the deepest corners of their soul, with the help of a shaman. They might hallucinate intensely and cleanse themselves on both physical and mental level. Vomiting and diarrhea are not exceptional either, they are considered an important part of the purification. 

In the presence of shamans

Voluntary visits by Westerners that are eager to experience the ayahuasca enlightenment are becoming more and more frequent these days. Katka Chadimová was also one of them few years ago. She flew directly from Czech Republic to the Amazon rainforest and found a shaman who accepted her for an ayahuasca ceremony.  

Looking back on the experience, she had a pretty naive opinion about the drink, only having access to limited and one-sided information at her disposal. In the end, the experience was way more intense than she had ever expected. Due to high dosage and her rushed decision to take part on the ceremony,  a mental disorder was triggered in her mind, which she's still struggling with until this day. She decided to share her story, to warn others. 

Katka gathered information on ayahuasca on the internet and from texts of the controversial therapist, Peter Chobot, just like most Czechs. He organizes ceremonies and trips to the Amazon focused on self-discovery and expansion of consciousness. He has gotten himself in trouble in the past, due to certain methods that included the consumption of ayahuasca. Some people allegedly got poisoned during his ceremonies. 

„I didn't have sufficient knowledge and I didn't realize that if I've had mental issues and depression during teenage years, I shouldn't be doing ayahuasca,“ she recalls. Chobot has introduced her to shaman Sergio, who organizes ayahuasca rituals in Peru and he has been collaborating with him for a long time. 

She didn't have the money for the trip organized by Peter Chobot, so she discussed with a friend and decided for a cheaper alternative and find a shaman in Peru on her own. Her reason to go there was self-discovery and ayahuasca was supposed to help her with that. 

„I've headed to the Andes, because I had a feeling that a shaman lives in one of the villages there. It was a risk, trial and error. But it had worked out. After spending a week in that village, he came and we have met,“ Katka recalls. She spoke to the shaman, described her situation to him and she also mentioned Peter Chobot.

Sergio then introduced her to his shaman friends. „Actually, it seemed like I won't try ayahuasca after all - I didn't insist on it. One evening I went to visit Ivan, one of Sergio's friends. He lived close to the town of Huarazu, in very poor conditions.“ And that was where they've tried ayahuasca together with a group of his friends. 

The ayahuasca ceremony begins 

The ceremony took place around the fire and, as always, with koka leaves. Katka was wearing a poncho to feel as relaxed as possible. She drank two cups of ayahuasca, which is quite a lot, because she received the same dose as the experienced shamans. No wonder she was the first to start feeling the effects. 

„It started about five minutes after drinking it. My body started vibrating, I've felt all of the chakras in my body,“ Katka describes. She started hallucinating. First, she saw a number of different shapes that started turning into lava. Lava was flowing into the depths of darkness. She started screaming loudly. The screams were coming from inside of her. 

„It was the accumulated pain and the past I was dealing with. I saw all of my demons. And they weren't only mine, there were also the demons of my mother. Ayahuasca has connected us. I've tried to help by also cleansing her. It was frightening, I was very scared,“ she says.

The demons communicated with her and Katka answered in a voice that wasn't hers. It sounded horrifying, demonic. It was only one sentence, but still very intense. She decided to proceed in her internal struggle and take action against the demons. „I punched the ground and told them to leave, managed to scare them away. Then the more pleasant part came.“

She knelt on all fours with her hands in fists, turning into a beast, sort of a lioness. „I've communicated with ayahuasca, even Ivan said that he sensed it.“ Katka was surrounded by the whole universe, she felt it and had the urge to sing to it. She sang in a foreign language, but she understood everything.

Ivan faithfully helped her throughout the trip. He sang when it was necessary, comforted her and was totally there for her. That's a very important part of the ceremony - not only the connection with ayahuasca, but also with the shaman who tries to accompany and support everyone who might need it. „We were there for each other,“ she confirms.

Motivation for this journey was self-discovery and state of expanded consciousness, but also meeting with inner angels. Ayahuasca disappointed her in that sense, she only saw the demons. „I wouldn't want to experience that again, it was really tough. I had no idea about what the ceremony was all about. I didn't have it sorted out in my head,“ she says.

As a 17-year-old, she suffered severe depression, being in a bad condition, physically and mentally. „I often had morbid, even aggressive ideas. Additionally I developed sensitivity to light and surges of various energies later. As a 19-year-old, I started taking antidepressants,“ Katka recalls. Her environment underestimated her disease and she also didn't fully admit it to herself.

„I thought only weak people had depression and mental health problems, and I didn't consider myself a weak person. It was too late when I recognized it,“ she admitted. Then came the first blow. She had a meltdown at school. However, there wasn't anyone to take it seriously and when she tried ayahuasca in Peru as a 22-year-old, it affected her mental health even more.

She started hearing voices, but they were not as strong. They only got stronger after half a year. „Visual and auditory hallucinations started occurring and I only found out that it's not normal after talking to a friend.“

Katka went to a psychiatrist, as her conditions became unmanageable. She voluntarily turned herself in to an institution, where she's spent the following 6 months. There she was diagnosed with a mixed type of a schizoaffective disorder. „I was electro-shocked twice, unfortunately without success. They kept trying different methods on me, I even gained 35 kilograms due to the type of medications I was taking. The voices remained, depression didn't. Finally, it stabilized.“

Last summer, she began to discontinue the medications under her doctors supervision. Katka's current goal is to feel good without medications and her faith is very helpful in that. „I'm doing really well, even though the doctor claims it's coming back and my disease cannot be cured. Anyway, I know there is nothing that can't be cured,“ she concludes her confession.

According to Katka, ayahuasca accelerated the onset of the disease and everyone who ever wants to try the ceremony, should hear a number of stories about the consequences it can possibly have. Like in her case, for example.